Gil's Arena - Rich Paul Talks Bronny & The NBA Draft With Gil's Arena

Episode Date: June 24, 2024

Rich Paul Talks Bronny James & The NBA Draft With Gil's Arena as the longtime agent and best friend of LeBron James returns to Gil's Arena to sit down with Gilbert Arenas and break down life as an NBA super agent ahead of the NBA Draft. Rich breaks down his favorite part of the entire draft process, including managing expectations with NBA Prospects & their families before giving his take on the discourse surrounding his most popular client in Bronny James, breaking down Bronny's development and where he best fits in the NBA. He also sets the record straight on Stephen A Smith's Comments surrounding LeBron's best teammate and the idea that Bron didn't know how to win before joining the Miami Heat. Finally, Rich gives his surprising pick for the most influential hooper for the next 20 years and gives the definition of what it means to be KLUTCH. Gil's Arena Crew - Gilbert Arenas, Rich Paul, Josiah Johnson Gil’s Arena premieres every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 11:30am PT / 2:30pm ET. Sign up for Underdog Fantasy HERE with promo code GIL and get up to $250 in Bonus Cash and A Special Pick: https://play.underdogfantasy.com/p-gil's-arena SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAvjYgmwadC682OoC4Cc6TQ Join the Underdog discord for access to exclusive giveaways and promos! https://discord.gg/underdog APPAREL PARTNERS TUFF CROWD: https://www.tuffcrowd.com/ ADIDAS: https://www.adidas.com/us/agent-gil-restomod-basketball-shoes/ Gr8ness: https://www.gr8nss.store/ Pre-Order Rashad's Book Here - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CD9ZQ3HD?ref_=pe_3052080_276849420 CHAPTERS: Intro 0:00:00 Show Start 0:00:45 Favorite Part of The Draft Process 0:01:32 Bronny's Draft Status 0:05:11 LeBron's Best Teammate 0:17:51 A'ja Wilson Is Changing The WNBA 0:32:09 Juju Watkins Is The Future 0:39:01 Rich On The NBA's New CBA 0:43:22 Jabari Parker Is Klutch 0:48:39 How It Feels To See Bronny Accomplish His Dreams 0:56:39 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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As always, we've got the legend Gilbert Arenas here with us. And we've got a very special guest making his second appearance in the arena. The founder and CEO of Clutch Sports Group. Represents some of the biggest names in the game. Rich Paul, welcome back to Gil's Arena. Thank you. We're going to get right into it. We had the smoke before. names in the game. Rich Paul, welcome back to Gil's Arena. Thank you. We're going to get right into it. We had the smoke before.

Give him the smoke. We have the smoke machine fix. I like all of the actions. Perfect. We got plenty to talk about, but before we do, as always, make sure you download the Underdog Fantasy app. Use promo code GIL.

You receive up to $250 in bonus cash and a special pick-em. And if you can't watch this interview with us on YouTube, we got audio versions available on Apple, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts from. So we're going to get right into it. NBA Draft is right around the corner. Yeah.

So I want to know, what's your favorite part of the draft process, and what's your least favorite part of the draft process? I think the favorite part of it is just getting to build with each guy. You know, when you have a draft class, you know, you're recruiting families, you're recruiting these players, but it's hard to get to know somebody in a two-hour meeting. Hopefully you're able to build a relationship over time. But as you know, like, the recruiting process, everybody's pitching and selling, and, you know, families have to decide what to believe, what not to believe. And, you know, there's, there's, there's no, there's not

a necessarily a, um, a perfect way of, of doing it. It's all based upon what people are valuing going into that. So once you get past that and you actually have the client in market and you can build, that's why I go to the gym every morning. I'm in town. I like to be there with the guys, see their progression, see their development, you know, just helping guys understand what they're getting ready to encounter. You know, the NBA is a machine.

It don't stop. It continues to move. And for these young guys coming in, what they think and what's reality is two different things. How do you, because I went through it,

and, you know, when you're a kid trying to get to the NBA, your vision is very different from your parents' vision. Oh, yeah, yeah. So when you're sitting down with the both

parties and you know you can help this kid how do you translate to the parent who's only basically looking for certain things versus what the that's probably the toughest part. The kid just wants the truth

the parents wants Well there's, there's this perception of what my son should actually be getting, how he should be positioned. And then there's also an abundance of lying to these people throughout the years from pursuants to represent. A lot of it is around, as you know, marketing and things of that nature, which a lot of that is driven by...

There's a lot of components that add to those opportunities. But with that being said, it's just you have to identify with those that identify with you. And there's a foundation there. There's an understanding. There's a trust that's built. There's an educational component to it when you're talking to parents.

And you're going to know right away what's important to them. And in any rooms, if someone doesn't want to necessarily embrace something, they won't. You know, especially when they have the ability to say yes or no. And you know how that works, right? You get ready to go through it yourself. And that difference is you actually played. So you will probably appreciate some of the conversation, at least that I'm having, a little bit different than most. But it tends to balance out.

You tend to get the people that you're going to get. Like, you can't represent everybody, so you tend to get the like-minded people that aligns with what you are, you know, kind of positioning and the reasons you're positioning it this way. And it kind of tends to work out like that. All right. So a lot of speculation. We got to talk about obviously one of your biggest clients coming into this draft, LeBron James Jr.,

Bronny. A lot of speculation about where Bronny will land in the draft. You said you don't care where he gets picked. You do care about the plan, the development, team strategy, the opportunity, and the financial commitment, pointing out that you're not looking for a two-way contract when it comes to them. So we see a lot of things reported in mainstream media. Some of it's true, some of it feels like cap. What's your reaction to the discourse around Bronny's draft status? Well, look, I think I've been consistent with this throughout the years. I mean, we talk about it all the time offline Gil in terms of just

how fit matters and Not just with Bronny with our entire draft class with Rob Dillingham. He's our top guy Rob Billy yeah, it matters. You know I'm saying a guy like a Justin Edwards who I believe is an extremely talented player, didn't have the year that some would want him to have at Kentucky, but that's kind of out of his control in a lot of cases, right? He can't control when he comes in and goes out and so on and so forth, but you can't control your effort.

But again, regardless where he goes, fit matters, right? We have a KJ Simpson. We have an Oso. We have Ulrich. We have a Terrence Shannon who I think fits on any roster, right? Just being 6'7", with his size, his experience. He's played multiple years at a collegiate level and performed at a high level.

All these guys coming in, in addition to Bronnie, it's about fit. But to answer your question as it pertains to Bronnie in particular, the discourse comes with the name. We know that, right? I think there's a shared accountability, but there's an excitement around any child from their parents but in addition to that you know society in itself is just you know people people people feel a lot better saying something negative to you prior

before they can ever be positive right and it just it makes them feel good for whatever the case may be. And I'm not, and again, Bronny can't be above the criticism and the opinions of others because this is the world that he's in. So he shouldn't get any preferential treatment. He gotta go through the journey. He gotta go through the barbershop, because this is the life he chose. He chose to, you know, aspire to be a professional athlete.

So that smoke, you have to embrace that, right? That's just part of it. And you... I don't want anything different from that perspective. And the, you know, people decide to honor or dishonor whatever they want, right? So you look past the medical thing. Oh, he should just be this superhuman of a young man and average 55 points a game. As we know, some people's game and some people's development is not for the collegiate game.

I personally think you develop better at a pro level. Why? Because there's more intention on your development. At the collegiate level, every game, depending on what school you go to, is the championship game, right? There's a necessity to win a conference championship. There's a necessity to get to the 64 pool

and then the Elite Eight. There's not so much, there's in some aspect a gatekeeping. This is your way to the NBA. So depending on where you play at and depending on which coach you play for and their coaching style, you know, a lot of kids have their confidence taken away from them at the collegiate level, right? You can't decide how a coach substitution patterns go. And if I'm a highly talented kid, and this is even talking about Brian, You can't decide how a coach substitution patterns go. And if I'm a highly talented kid, and this is even talking about Brian,

this is any kid in our industry that's aspiring to be a pro. If I'm a highly talented kid, ranked, whatever you want to call it, yeah, I believe in myself, but there's some things that's out of my control. And if I go to this school, and if you tell me on your couch or my couch and me and my parents, this is what I'm going to do for you. And then I get to this school and it's totally different. All I'm focused on is going

pro. That's it. And every time I have a bad game or a bad possession or anything like that, the one thing that's on my mind, especially for the guys that's consistently on a mock draft, is this is hurting my stock. Only those kids know how they feel as it pertains to when they rush home and now I was three and now I'm 13 now I'm 25, and then I'm 38. But wait a minute, but I was one or five going in. You realize Derek Lively was the number one player in his class. Didn't have a great year. Came out, he was 29 on the board, right? If you ask Derek Lively, what was the first team Rich told you that he would like for you to be positioned at? He'll tell you it was the Dallas

Mavericks. There was undoubtedly the Dallas Mavericks for a number of reasons we could talk about later. But I say all that to say a lot of stuff is out of these kids' control. And then they're penalized for this. So wait a minute. So now I was projected lottery pick and now you're saying I'm in the 50s because of something that was out of my control because I was coached a certain way. But if you just flip that coin around, I just saw this on Kobe. There was a video on Kobe when he was in high school, and it was showing him turning the ball over and making bad plays, et cetera. But the conversation was about him having an ability to play through his mistakes, and

you still believing in him. Yes. It's the same thing with our kids. Before your kid walk out the door, whatever you say, how you say it will affect his day or her day. And I think a lot of these kids, man, they just, you know, that first half of the year, whether you trying to prove a point, whether you trying to, you know, coach through them or whether whether you're trying to gain control, or whatever the case may be, you have to understand a little bit better how that young man or young woman actually learns.

And it's the same way in the classroom. You can't teach every kid the same in the classroom. And so there's a difference between you saying, Josiah, why'd you take that shot? Don't take that shot. Versus Josiah, that wasn't the best shot, but that's okay. Make the next one a better one. Now, you know, now my head's not down.

I feel a lot better. And to me, when you, I tell all these kids, before you choose a school, look at how these guys are being coached. And don't allow your ego to say, that won't happen to me. Because it will. When does fast grocery delivery through Instacart matter most? When your famous grainy mustard potato salad isn't so famous without the grainy mustard. When the barbecue's lit, but there's nothing to grill. When the in-laws decide that, actually, they will stay for dinner.

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Essential resources responsibly produced. It's happening now at BHP, a future resources company. You know what's so funny is I, we think the same. So, you know, when I tell, when people ask me, what do I look for in talent?

I say, how you look at a house, the structure of it. We think the same so, you know when I tell when people ask me what do I look for in talent? Mm-hmm. I say how you look at a house The structure of it. Does it have good bones? Right, you know the point with Kobe. Yeah, like so we're both with Ronnie speed IQ natural jumping ability shot making ability, right? So now when I see certain things on guys right oh he's a volume shooter he's turning the ball over as an organization that's my job to enhance those

abilities I can't enhance your jumping ability that's genetics I can't enhance your iq that's how fast your brain process information so i think sometimes people get lazy they think the product should already come in ready when you are paid to make me better Right? So when it comes to, like, certain things, kids get hurt because these guys are the lazy ones. Right? I don't want to hear that he's a volume shooter. He was a volume shooter, one, because of his age. I'm pretty sure no 19-year-old, Curry, at 19, shoots the way Curry shoots today. He had to develop the accuracy, right?

That takes time, maturity, right? So when you're looking at a 19-year-old, you're judging it for the bone structure of who he is. Absolutely, that foundation. And I think a lot of people just, they just miss that. When they want to. Yes. They miss it when they want to, but you're miss that. When they want to. Yes. They miss it

when they want to. But you're exactly right. It's the foundation. And that's what I always believe in. Even like last year with a guy like Chris Livingston. He was 12

going into Kentucky when he went there. When he left there, you know, like they're talking about he could barely be a pro. How? He's 6'7". You know, like, they're talking about he could barely be a pro. How? He's 6'7".

You know, athletic, long, like, great kid. How is that possible? And who's taking responsibility for that? Because that's the thing. Someone has to be held accountable. Because I would think if I was coaching a young man or a young woman, and when you come in here, my job is you're either leaving here I would think if I was coaching a young man or young woman, and when you come in here, my job is to, you're either leaving here just as good as you did

when you came in, or better. Or better. There's no way you're leaving here worse, because I'm taking the responsibility. If I'm to the level and being, you know, you're saying that I'm this coach and we're this institution, then I have to hold myself accountable as well. It can't be, you know, it's just like being in school as a teacher. You're not going to feel good just passing a kid along for the sake of passing a kid along.

Although it's happened in many public schools and urban communities for many years, but that don't feel good, and you know that don't feel good. The same way as this. Now, you can't tell a kid how long they should stay or not because there's other influences. And, you know, obviously me being one of them, I hold myself accountable for that. But that's just because I believe in the foundation and like you said You can't make a person taller. So if you for 11 It's gonna be tough for you When you six seven and you athletic and you can dribble and the shot ain't broke and you can think and you're willing to be coached

I can actually make it from there. And that's the point, right? Absolutely. I think people get stuck on, this person only did this. This is one, this is a, college is college, right? College is not the pros. Yes.

So I personally don't care what you did in college because this level here is very different. Absolutely. Does your attributes, your skill translate to this? Yes. Being a zone killer and all that, that is cool. But here it's about your one-on-one ability. What is your skill versus the people that's guarding you? Right? What is your skill versus the people that's guarding you, right? What is your attributes versus the guys that's guarding you?

So when you look at the best players in college basketball and players of the year, if you actually look at that list and then go to the pros. Those guys are never the great pros. The good pros. They're never the good pros. And they don't really make it to a second contract the great pros. The good pros. They're never the good pros. And they don't really make it to a second contract in the pros. So I agree. We align.

Yeah, yeah. So we got to talk a little bit about LeBron and some of the discourse around him. So recently there was a conversation about who was LeBron's best teammate. And your guy's friend, Stephen A. Smith, had this to say. You know, when we start asking about the greatest, you know, the greatest teammate for LeBron James and stuff like that, you know, wait a minute now. Wait a minute. Let's not forget Dwayne Wade. If it weren't for Dwayne Wade, I could make a legitimate argument there would have never been a Kyrie. LeBron didn't know how to win until he got to Dwyane Wade.

Let's call that what it is. He didn't want to go to the free throw line. He didn't want to take game winning potential game winning shots during an all star game. It was a lot of stuff that happened. But the combination of South Beach, Pat Riley, coming to Cleveland, and putting them rings on the table. You want one of these? Am I lying? So, Rich, what are your thoughts on Stephen A. saying LeBron didn't know how to win until he got with Dwyane Wade?

I think I understand what he was trying to say. It just didn't come out how he probably wanted to say it. When you talk about each teammate, and I'm going to be quick with this, I think it's unfair to try to decide who was the best. They all won. That's the goal to win. I think there's different moments and times. What I will say is about D-Wade specifically is the art of coexistence matters when you're trying to be successful at anything.

And D-Wade was extremely selfless. D-Wade because they had a friendship going in, there was automatically a respect for one another to where when there were hard times, he could take on the challenge of holding LeBron accountable in those moments.

There's already a respect there as friends That makes that a little bit easier It was Wade County remember going in but LeBron Trump's any of that because he is his he's just such a big thing. And so how do you coexist and oftentimes as Star players it got to be about me. And the reason why that worked is because D-Wade was selfless enough. He had enough awareness to understand, no, this needs to be about us.

This idea of the hand-holding and not knowing how to win, again, I understand what Stephen A. was trying to say. And just for context, for some people who probably couldn't pick it up, there's this, there's winning, and then there's winning a championship, right? Gilbert, as you know, I was sitting there courtside plenty of times in D.C. series

when you guys couldn't get past the Cavaliers. Yeah. Right? Yeah. I think 29 straight points in the fourth quarter against Detroit. That team had won a championship, had went to six straight NBA Easter Conference finals.

So 2017, you go to the finals against Spurs in their big three and their continuity, et cetera. So winning, that is winning. Now That takes, number one, talent. And so I think when he decided to leave and go to Miami, the biggest thing was about being able to actually win, having enough to get over the hump, especially after what Boston had just done. And so I think the biggest component for me was the fact that D-Wade being who he was. And when you really think about it, it all makes sense. When you get to know D-Wade at his core, forget the basketball player. He's just a good dude and he knows who he is.

He never tried to be somebody he wasn't. And so that embracing helps. We need to exude that more just in humanity because we're taught it got to be all about me. But nobody is successful by themselves. That doesn't work. Now, the narrative of the hand-holding and couldn't get out of this, and you had to go to a press conference and have a chaperone, that wasn't the case.

That first year, they were trying to make sure that both parties felt prioritized. So there was a strategy of doing the press conferences together so no one would seem to be above no one else, which is actually the right thing to do. But that can't be looked on him saying like, oh, I needed this chaperone, because I don't agree with that. But again, I know what Stephen A was trying to say in that manner. Now, Kyrie's in the finals, so I'm not going to touch on him because I don't want to distract him. I will say his talent was a huge reason why the return is there, right? The belief to know you can win and then when you think about ad again

Midwest Know who he is We think when you think about ad's parents great people, you know, there's there's no there's no You know the out there's no noise that says that that creates this animosity or this competitiveness Internally, right because that tends to drive a wedge But I was there Randy was there Maverick was there glow was there Savannah was there The supporting cast was there so it wasn't like, you know It's this it's it's all on how you come into the NBA, right?

So when you look at Dwyane Wade, he got to be an entity for one year, right? 16 points a game. And then a megastar came in, which was Shaquille O'Neal. Yes. So he got to grow with another entity. He got to learn from

another entity that was bigger than him. Yes. Right? So he already learned how to coexist with something that was big. So when LeBron comes, he has this already. I know how to deal with this. Yes. This is easy for me. I'm older, I'm better, but I know how to deal with this. Yes. This is this is easy for me. I'm older. I'm better, but I know how to deal with this

Yes Kyrie Had a team by himself and when he was getting into his stardom He felt the success and then this entity comes as I wait wait and that's tough. What is this anybody? Yeah, right? Yeah Okay. Okay, and the winning I'm winning. Why is he getting all the credit that kicks in? Right, and it was the same with you know mellow, right? The success happened and right when he's getting ready to blow it becomes who team is this when certain players already got to share that? Responsibility their point. So if LeBron was there when Kyrie was a rookie and stuff this wouldn't have been issued now

Kyrie moving around when he's with Luka, it's easy now. I've already tested on it. Same thing with AD. AD got superstars to come in, and he learned. And he already learned. But, yeah, I think, but I don't take, I'm not choosing which one. I think it's all different, but I think... They're all different. They're all different.

They all work great. I think you embrace, you know, that partnership for all of them. Because they really all won. But the art of coexisting matters when you're trying to be successful. And that translates over to life, too. Understanding how to coexist

That matters man. That really did. What's the fun is the funny thing is is if You if you're trying to be technical and you gave them all the same amount of years You You can't say who's in front because of Kyrie and Love didn't get hurt the first time they win the championship. Yes, yes. In fact, that last year... Well, remember D-Way had the knee problem last year.

The last year for the... There was time where he didn't know if he was going to play or not. And there's a fatigue that comes with a lot of things. It's just been this thing every year of having to, you know. And so, again, I don't, I try to stay positive in all those things. But it was a great ride. Do you think this is unfair?

And it's going to, it was with LeBron. It's happening in Tatum. When they're judged, they're judged against previous players that won later in their lives, right? When those teams were ready to win championships, they got to win multiple chips in a row because the team now is built. Yes. When you have someone like LeBron go to the finals at 22, do this at 20, and he's unsuccessful, they're using those against him. Same like Tatum, right?

Mm-hmm. You know, he's going there at 19, 20, 23, 24, right? The team itself is not structurally ready to take over and be dominant, but you're using that against them to players that wasn't even in those situations at that age. Ever. Ever. Right? They wasn't successful at this young age for there to be anything negative against them. When they got into their 26-7-8 and they were all ready. The team was built. We're

championship ready. Now let's go win one, two, three in a row. Yes. That is, that's definitely unfair because, again, when you think about it in terms of just, look at Tatum, right? I mean, pound for pound,

his career up to this point, obviously I know he hasn't won, but he has did a ton of winning, right? Yes. And even in LJ's case, I mean, prior to going to the Heat where he actually won, they had only won one. And that was four years earlier. It wasn't like it was 15 years earlier, right? And so when you talk about the culture, well, I think he was also a part of building that culture.

Because it wasn't like there was, I mean. Trust me. Yeah, yeah. I mean, we've been to a lot of my games. Yeah, I know. But there was this... There was this belief that winning matters and we're going to have a respect for winning. We're going to have respect for our habits.

We're going to be detailed. And we're going to hold each other accountable. That matters in every organization and retains to winning But the Cavs hadn't won anything Right. They were getting less fans than high school games when he got there you turn that around Mm-hmm Going to eight straight finals, I think it was 10 and

21 years something like that. A guy like Tatum, right? Even today, Luka getting the Mavericks back to the finals in the time frame that he did this, still going to Western Conference finals. It took the previous person in his position. I mean, when you look at the career, it was just a lot different. But I think that's anything in life, though, Gil.

You can't, especially when you play for a historical franchise like the Boston Celtics. I mean, prior to the previous championships, there was only, what, one? Mm-hmm. That was in 08. Yep, that was, yeah. That was it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, they got it. So all of those championships was actually won pretty much.

People hate when I be technical. And when you're trying to judge people and you're using these blanket statements, you have to be technical. Yeah, but there's a difference between the history of the organization and what's happening currently. So if you're going to be technical, well, the technicality is not necessary if you're given a holistic...

Yeah, and no one does that, right? Well, I mean, between algorithms and edits and, you know, the want to have this certain take, it takes away from that conversation. Yeah. You know? So let's move over to WNBA. Got to talk Asia Wilson. Love Asia. She's my favorite hooper in the game right now.

She's a beast. Having another MVP-level season. This year she became a best-selling author. Also became the first black women's basketball player to have her signature shoe with Nike since Cheryl Swoops, 2002. Obviously there's been a lot of talk about the Caitlin Clark effect and her impact

on the league, but in my opinion from top to bottom, the Aces, and I would say all sports are probably my favorite team. What they do on the court, obviously, but off the court with social media, marketing, every single person on that team is hilarious. I love the vibe they have with each other. Asia's a key part of that.

Youngest player in WMA history to win MVP finals, MVP Defensive Player of the Year. Unbelievable. So I want to know, obviously she's with Clutch, but what is Asia doing to disprove the narrative in basketball that black women aren't marketable? I don't even know where that came from honestly i mean i mean but that's the way things are going yeah i mean well i get

to see her numbers she's definitely marketable and that's what i would argue you know i think i don't i i can't answer that question because i have no idea where that came from but as it pertains to asia i think she's foundational when I look at her. There's no gimmick. There's just substance when you think about Asia, both on and off the floor. The way she plays the game, how she leads. And I don't get to go to enough WMA games. I wish I could go to more.

But I did get to go to, you know, last year in the finals. But she deserved her own shoe, and rightfully so, and her having the patience and the want and the detail. Obviously, I'm in the meetings to do it right. When everyone is saying why she don't have this, she got it, but she just wanted to make sure it's done right, which again, I applaud her because when you talk about the substance of it, but I also don't want to pin somebody against somebody else. I think we should embrace the fact that the women's game is growing.

The eyeballs have tremendously grew on their game, whether it's attributed to their play, whether it's attributed to, you know, certain individual success, certain individuals now positioning and presence, betting, whatever you want to the fact that there i've been watching the women's game you know nashima hillman played at vanderbilt was was like an older sister to me right samika randall who played at tennessee i used to go and watch her play her au games and they had a team in high school trinity in high school that was unbelievable chrissy falcone and played at magnifica back in the day they was right i watched the women's game just in Ohio. Forget about it. And then all those, whether it was Teresa Edwards, whether it was Dawn Staley, whether it was Rebecca Lobo,

and Tarazi and Bird, all the people that grew the game, and to see where it is now, you can't have today without yesterday, right? Now, it's unfair because, like you said, you want't have today without yesterday, right? Now, it's unfair because like you said, you want to get technical. Look at all the streaming and the platforms and this and that and the 24-hour news cycle and it's 365 and it's 24-7. So to me, it's all these things together that is allowing this, but we're trying to zero in on specific things. I think it's unfair to the girls, and I think it's a distraction, right?

Because whether it's physicality, whether it's style of play, whether it's demand for an individual, I think it all matters as it pertains to the success of the overall women's game. Yeah, and I look at it like when Braun came in and had that $100 million shoe deal, right? Nobody liked that. Nobody liked it, right? The people before. Didn't like it not a people who didn't have shoe deals Look at I personally was like

He just broke through a few walls. That was not breakable. Mm-hmm Which means if I was worth with these stats $200,000 a year I automatically bump up to half a million because of him he Opened up the ceiling. I don't think people grasp understanding so like someone like a Jew a Asia she is top of the food chain. Mm-hmm, but she can only eat so much Because it's a pool right Someone came in that opened it up to the ocean.

The person who's going to eat is the person who was eating all the fish in this pool, right? So her bags was going to go up because she is the best entity. Yeah, everybody benefits. A lot of people don't look at it like that. Everybody benefits. And in that case back then, remember, people were upset because they felt like, oh, he hadn't done nothing yet. Yes.

But I disagree because are you basing it on performance? Because when you are a signature athlete, they're not doing these things because you're scoring 30 every night only. They're talking about cultural relevance. They're talking about connectivity. They're talking about cultural relevance. They're talking about connectivity. They're talking about a return on their investment if you have the ability to build an actual business to where they can sell shoes, they can sell slides, they can sell tees, shorts, basketballs, accessories,

all these things. So when you do the numbers, which I'm pretty sure Nike made their money that his entire contract They made back in year one. Yeah, that's just business You get I'm saying and so and that's what somebody like me made I signed a deal for 48 million if there's no hundred million dollar contract that comes through the door That doesn't happen for a player like me Right now, but I but I'm a year. Yeah, because because now you raise through the door. That doesn't happen for a player like me. But I see it.

Yeah, because now you raise the, what I would say... That was considered the bottom line. Yeah, you really raised the bar and the opportunity and the revenue available for

sneakers. And remember, also, back in those days the basketball sneaker was actually the lifestyle sneaker and so it's transitioning or translating over to the average person that even don't play basketball they're still wearing a basketball shoe so now you get're getting a two for one. How you think the business of MJ was built so big? 85% of people, by the way, more than that, teams didn't wear his shoe in they high school games. You waited until you got out of the game

and then you wore your shoe to the spot that night. You didn't wear, you know, you had only a crazy guy like me who was getting a little time, would wear my, because I wouldn't worry about mine creasing. But if you only have one pair, you're not wearing them in the game. Are you crazy? No, I'm wearing these with my leather and my cargo jeans, my carpenters,

and I'm out the door. That's how that worked. So it's just, but you can't expect everybody to understand that business. So we talked about Asia being the now of the game. Let's talk about the future of the game. Juju Watkins. Love Juju.

Love Juju. You've been a Juju fan. I've seen her in Canyon Days. Been talking about set the NCAA freshman scoring record. Has the potential to break Kaitlyn Clark's career record down the road if she keeps up this trajectory. Generational talent. But how are you preparing Juju for the good

and all the positive that's to come in her career, and also for that negative side that inevitably all athletes have to deal with? Yeah, but I think you need it. Yeah. You need that. When we say negative, as long as it's not this kind of, like, intentional hatred. Yeah. If you're talking about

just criticism or opinions, you don't want to have a puff piece. You don't want to have everything to be rosy and perfect. That's part of your journey. Like even when you look at someone like Caitlyn, her failures is what allow her triumphs to be so magnified. We got to know her because in the men's game, she actually learned from the women's game because this is how it was back in the day. The fact that she stayed in one

place for so long and built a career, you grew to love her throughout the year or throughout the years, if that makes sense. And the same thing's going to happen for Juju, right? We saw her as a freshman. We saw her failure on the big stage in terms of her team losing and not getting all the way and winning the championship. That helps her grow. That's not a negative to me. That's a positive because how do I come back better? She's more experienced now. Obviously, you've seen the job that Lindsey did, getting her more, you know, not just her, but getting the team more help

so they're going to be a better team. And her experience that she just had in playing a great team and losing is going to help her the following year, you know? And so I embrace it all. I think, look, Juju, going back to your point, the foundation of Juju Watkins as a basketball player times the foundation of Juju Watkins as a person.

Yes. And when you put those two things together, you have, to me, what could be the most influential basketball player for the future. She touches all the elements that you're looking for. Beautiful, stylish, personality-wise, thoughtful, gives back to her community. She was doing that as a sophomore in high school. She was thinking that way.

Hardworking. Hardworking. She knows what she wants. I've been in meetings to where she's attentive. She's asking questions. She's not making it only about her. She's trying to understand and she's willing to listen. And more importantly, she's appreciative.

I texted her the other day. She hit me right back thank you so you know like those things go a long way to me and so her future is extremely bright there was this this says everything you said this this game will will second that it's senior night right right it's senior night in s the senior night in Sierra Canyon So everybody's in the crowd Juju's about to go off right Everybody's yelling 80 80 the team we're playing obviously no one can stop her anyway, but the team we're playing

So she'd be on a fast break should pass it right by herself pass it pass it back back right and everybody's like what what are you doing and after the game she was like i wasn't the only senior on the team this is their senior night too absolutely we're all seniors that's this is not for me to go out here and score 80 90 points because i'm the name she's a senior she's a senior she's a leadership and when i'm looking at that when i'm when i'm hearing her explain it to people like what's going on here and when she said it and i was like that's what makes her a star that's leadership that's leadership future is bright i can't and i can't wait to her season start this year all right let's shift back over to the league new cba came 2023 new tv deal on the way obviously a lot of big bread but seems like with that cba league trying to create a lot more parity between the smaller market teams

and those big spending teams traditionally that didn't mind operating in the cap with this whole second apron and things like that so when you look at this new cba what are some of the positive the bright sides of it and how do you think that players feel about it for long term? You know that Alonzo Mourning meme when he's on the bench? He's just like... Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what I think about the CBA. It's just like...

But I think like all other CBAs, players adapt. I think it's on us as representation across the board whether you're with Clutch or any other company, it's on us to help the guys understand. Not so much as the CBA because you got to read that every, you know, you got to

refresh that every day, but just so much as to understand like the opportunity and what it takes for you to actually build value for yourself in the league, you know, it's the half and the half nots. It's becoming that. The guy that was a $20 million player is now getting that $13 million mid-level. But the mid-level is $13 million, by the way. How crazy is that, Gil?

When it used to be five, four? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what I'm saying? But now you're able to split it, and you know, you do different things, and teams are, you know, obviously two ways and things like that. Not signing as many vets, which I don't like that,

that aspect of it, because I think it's necessary. But I think just like anything in life, you know, players adapt. And, you know, you'll see these guys, I mean, I think Jason Tatum probably signed the biggest contract, him and Luka, this summer of NBA history. You got guys like LJ, who's 39 years old and can still get max dollars.

And then you got rookies coming in at, you know, more than that for number one. But yeah, but like, you know, top five picks, top ten. You know, it's all changed. It's all grown. But I think they'll adapt. Just like anything else, you just have to adapt. There's

some strategies that I would put in place. I can't give that over the air, but yeah. You can tell us after this. Okay, so there's something. I can't give that over the air, but yeah. You can tell us after this. No, okay, so there's something, I don't know if more details came about it, but you can invest in the organization? What was that? Yeah, but see, okay, so to me, to me, that's the banana in the tailpipe for the players. Okay.

And I say that because, and I talk about this when people try to say to parents, oh, Rich is going to go and own the team. I do not want to own the team. I don't have enough money to own the team. And today I really don't want to own the team because you're paying a premium, right? We thought Barmer was crazy when he paid. Well, I didn't, but people thought, wow, he paid $2 billion for the Clippers. Well, if you just follow what Charlotte sold for, what the Sun sold for,

what Minnesota was on the market to, well, not them, but what they probably will sell for and what these teams are selling for, different story. But when you talk about the players, when players, first it was marketing. Remember in 2005, 2006, everybody was on marketing. Now everybody's on ownership. What does that actually mean? Right? If I own.00000000 half a tenth of a team, what does that actually mean?

You get what I'm saying? But perception-wise and forward-facing, you get this great feeling from ownership and allowing the players to invest in teams, which, again, you got to crawl before you walk. I understand that. But I would ask, well, no, I don't want to invest. Okay, invest in a team, that's great. But allow us to have access to the deal flow of the actual owners of the team to be able to invest alongside of them in their portfolios.

Why do I want to invest in a team that's being sold already at a premium? That's not helping me compound my wealth. But if I'm able to invest alongside of them in the things that they invest in and it's not looked at as circumventing the cap, that actually helps me. And if a team comes with that, great. But don't give me the team and then exclude everything else that is actually making the money. Because the team ain't making no money. Right? If you ask any owner how much money your team made, they'll tell you, well, actually, I cut a check at the end of the year.

You get what I'm saying? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I want the deal flow. So I didn't really love that aspect of it. But, again, I wasn't involved, but I didn't really love that aspect. All right. I didn't understand love that aspect. Okay. All right. I didn't understand that one either. So recently Jabari Parker broke down during an interview after his Barcelona squad was eliminated from the playoffs in the Spanish league.

Had an extremely tough road in his career, ACL injuries. You know, didn't really get to live up to his full potential based on the expectations when he was the number two pick coming into the draft. But in response to that video, you tweeted, this is perseverance through expectation. This is courage and resilience. This is a countless climb after the countless fall. This is peace. This is clutch.

Hashtag a better human than talent. Yeah. So what does Jabari Parker's comeback meant to you? Well, I can only tweet that because I recruited Jabari. I know Jabari. I know Jabari. I know the kid who was, I was in his dorm room having a real conversation with, I was in his living room on South Chappelle having a conversation with him and Lola and his father's son and his brother Christian. So I can only tweet that because I know Jabari. When I saw that, it did something to me.

No, Jabari's not a clutch client, but when I talked about him being clutch, for those who don't understand that I built several different verticals of a business, Clutch Sports Group sits over here. Let that stay there. Him being clutch was a totally different conversation I was saying on that, and what I was saying is this is a clutch moment for him.

This is clutch being able to... His tears was that pain being released. That kid was the number two pick in the draft, should have been number one in many cases, right? Depending on where he went, i didn't get him out of college but had i got him out of college he probably would have been number one because the calves had number one pick that year you know a lot of different things i knew what was happening remember brian came back that same year it could go a lot different maybe kevin love wouldn't have

been on the calves because they probably not a trade him because that was the actual position that was needed at That for where when they drafted Wiggins he played the position that Brian played coming back at the three So when I saw that I just went all the way back to a world where I'm like just damn It was so good to see him back on the court and it was so good to see him back on the court. And it was so good to see him allow himself to be an example of what it is to really be okay with expressing yourself in that way. Those tears meant a lot. And that Jabari Parker is a much better person than he is basketball player. Not then, but he's just a better person as he is a basketball player. I know that. I know how he cares about his community. I was there with him. I remember he called me one day, and this was when we was dead smack into recruiting. I was in

Chicago, and he had to fly to, I think it was Portland, Oregon, just to take a young lady to prom. No social media, nothing, but he had told her he would do it. And he did it, you get what I'm saying? And I know how he cared about the kids at Simeon and back in Chicago, and so Jabari and I had this tight relationship, and I hadn't talked to him in a while. And so those words, I wrote that that morning. That wasn't like off no script, like I wrote that off the top of my head

because that's what i was really feeling and i and oftentimes when i do things people think oh well he's not your client he'll have to be my client it's not about client it's about life yeah you know i'm saying i don't care what agency he's with fantastic this is about life you get what i'm saying and i trump that i trump i know trumped, I know all these guys. I know all these guys and, and I identify with them a lot different than quote unquote, their representation ever could. So, so we're going to move that to the side. You get what I'm saying? And so I was just really happy to see Jabari in that space. And I thought about his dad.

I thought about his mom in that moment. I thought about his, you know, it's a tough fight, man, when these guys go. It's a tough fight for an athlete, period. People don't understand how tough it is to be an athlete. Black, white, green, red, purple, don't matter. It's extremely tough. These guys have to make their most important decisions at their youngest age.

These guys have to take a million dollars, pay half of that in taxes, and divide it by nine, including themselves, that's 10. So that's 50 grand for every million. You get what I'm saying? It's tough, bro. Your dad was a professional athlete.

He divided up by about 20, 25. And he wasn't getting it. They wasn't getting it like that. They had to go to Junior Bridgeman. He went and worked at Wendy's while being in the front office. You get what I'm saying? They were teammates together on the bus. Yeah. Wendy's while being in the front office. They were teammates together on the bus. Yeah, so I just, you know, for me, I just couldn't, I just had to express that.

You know what's so funny? When I seen it, I knew exactly what that feel was, right? If you're an athlete and you've ever been injured and you've ever had to fight you know what those tears are so when I when I was seeing social media other people that who's never played sports say and turn it into a negative thing and I was like this is the yeah it is disconnect this is why athletes are needed in the podcast space, because this is a positive. It's a positive. How you hit the lottery or your child graduated and you seeing your little baby, you know, girl for the first time.

And then she's graduating college and those tears of joy comes out. That's what this is for an athlete. He went through so much pain that he never even saw himself doing that interview that game and it hit him so when it hit him all at once and he just so when i said this is clutch i'm i had a couple people online like oh you're trying to make i'm like i mean i can't imagine what your test scores look like in elementary school. But what I was saying was, no, this is a clutch act. This thing is, kids need to see this.

And, you know, this is, man, it was just, I was just so impressed. Really, I was. Well, Rich, we appreciate you. We done? Yeah, yeah. Okay. I mean, you know, once I get on Gil's arena, I just get to think, because, you know, first of all, me and Gil, we've been down a long, long time. Long time.

You a busy man, you got a busy schedule. We respect your time. Okay. But we got everything. This was great. Any one other question you need to get out before? I know George is going to be out. Yeah, we're going to, you know, just, you know, me and Elijah.

George, can we get one? Okay. I'm going to get one more, and this will be the last thing I ask you. But you repped LeBron for a long time, going into year 22, going to be 40 years old. I'm sick of him. You've seen Bronny grow up from a little kid now to getting to fulfill his dream of being drafted. So just for you how cool But every fear is that to see him at 5 10 15 and now as a grown-ass man getting ready to

fulfill his dream of playing NBA basketball it is You know taking my my agent hat off and obviously I was there when he was born Right. It's a beautiful thing? It's a beautiful thing. It's a beautiful thing. And regardless what pick, what this, what that, if he averaged one point as a rookie, I don't give a shit about any of that. The fact that he's able to fulfill his dream is a beautiful thing

because I wish more of us, athlete or not athlete, of our kids just got to fulfill their dreams. Not somebody else's dreams for them. Not, you know what I'm saying, like just their dreams. And so to see him go through the process, to see him come back. Gotta remember, man, I ain't got to call daddy. Bronny was the best player on the floor that day.

I'm on a plane flying back from Atlanta. Five minutes later, I get another call that the accident had happened. Now I got to get on the plane and fly four hours across country to get back home. It's my nephew. Forget all the other stuff.

Imagine that. And then for me to see him in his hospital bed a day or two later watching film. Don't tell me about no kid. I don't care what platform you got

and you want to critique. You can't tell me about this kid. You get what I'm saying? And so whatever team takes him, I don't care who it is, right? They know what, they have an understanding and what the focus is. Development, investment, all that.

People don't understand what the two-way is and I'm not knocking two ways, but B.J. Boston went 51. He signed a multi-year deal. Chris Livingston went 58. He signed a multi-year deal. Taylor Horton Tucker went 46. He signed a multi-year deal. That's not about

Bronny. That's about the way I do business, right? And so, but... Man, just for him to be able to fulfill his dream, I sat with him in my office, and I said to him, Bronny, what's important to you? You know what he said to me? Man, Rich, I just want to hear my name called.

He didn't say I want to go number one, number 15, number 30. He said, I just want to hear my name called. That is perspective, right? So I root for that. Whether his name was Brownie James or Jesse James, I root for that in Whether his name was Bronnie James or Jesse James, I root for that in all these young men because, again,

in life, all you want is a starting point. There's a lot of people out here that does not have a starting point, and there's no ways

to get that to life. And any time a young man or a woman can get a starting point in life, it's our duty to embrace that and push them as far as we possibly can. That's it.

You know, that's reality, what you just said. From me training Bronny, me watching Bronny, the expectations, all the hoopla everyone does, he's like, man, I don't care about none of that, man. Y'all over

here talking about I need to do this, do this. Listen, just call my name and that's all I want. I watched him in the game. We playing y'all. He's sitting there on the lap. That same kid is like yo I don't give I don't know what they talk but just draft me just I just want to see my name

Bronny James and then from there I can do my job I can play because in the NBA for all young kids out there whether you rank number one or 1,001, in order for you to be successful in the NBA, you have to find a role. Gilbert Arenas, star. Second round pick. I don't know what the scouts

was looking at, but for whatever reason, he was a second round pick. He grew to be a star player because of his consistent production. His original opportunity did not come with that responsibility. Most guys that play in the NBA play a role. Most actors or actresses that play in a movie play a role. There's very few stars. Focus on a role that allows you to gain value

and that value allows you to have consistency amongst a number of years and then it starts over as your contracts expire. The things you do as a professional, your habits, your approach, your practices and things like that allows you to have longevity. When you talk about clutch, what does that actually mean? Not the sports group.

The act of being clutch. longevity, an understanding, a trust, a commitment, a communication, or a community and honesty within. That's what's important. That's being clutch. End of story. Some of our audience is slow out there. That was literally the acronym for clutch that he just gave y'all.

I know a lot of y'all picked it up because you're intelligent, but just make sure y'all are really peeping in. But Rich Clash that he just gave y'all. I know a lot of y'all picked it up because you're intelligent. But just make sure y'all are really peeping in. Appreciate you pulling back up to the arena. Thank you. Another episode of Gills Arena. Woo woo! Make sure you like and subscribe.